I'll C2 it

I'm rebuilding the rear of my 66, trailing arms, U-joints and differential and found this. Done before 1979 when I bought the car. How much could this part have cost then?

KC John

That repair lasted for 40 years, why buy new if you can fix it properly? I bet it will last another 40 if you leave it alone.

MikeM

In the back woods of Washington state, it might have cost a bundle if you had to drive 100 miles to get a replacement in a hurry and it wasn't even available.

If you put it back together and the joint doesn't bind, you should be good to go.

I'm sure other opinions will vary.

Wayne88

Before the internet, where you can dial up any part and have it delivered in a day, it wasn't that easy to find parts. That weld looks like the normal fix back then.

I'll C2 it

OK, times were different back then. You did whatever would got you back on the road. That's where Bubba comes in...
i think it will become an old school "wall hanger"

MikeM

I'll tell you a little secret about Bubba's. Back then, something went wrong, Bubba' always rode. The rest of the civilians walked.

GEM '62

In the day, when I had only one vehicle, and lived 15 miles from the nearest part store, I made similar repairs. It you do the job right, why take it apart to put a new one in later. In 1979 when that repair was done, no one was worried about originality. Today, a lot of frames get welded. putting on a new frame would be costly in frame cost and time. If it works and is safe, I say go for it.

GTOguy

Not really Bubba, IMO. More of a workman-like repair done when the car was only a decade old or so. I agree that it should be good to go for the next 40 years. The only crime committed here is ugliness.....he didn't grind the weld down so it looked better. Looks to be plenty strong, and if the last 40 years are any evidence, it is.

MikeM

PS. The only Bubba' here is he probably broke the flange trying to get the Uhoint apart.

I'll C2 it

Thank you all. I laugh at all the replies and you bring me back to when things didn't have to be show car perfect. I got lost into "must be perfect".

67L88Vette

Sorry, but looking at the close-up picture, it looks like there's a set of new cracks starting from the OD and the ID as well in the weld material. It could be that whatever issue broke the part the first time is going at it again. I can almost convince myself I see the cracking the farther out shot ... I'd look real carefully at the weld before I put that part back in my car! Better to replace this part than your virgin fiberglass, LOL ...
John A, 67L88Vette

856666

Yes - cracks on the weld at both ends and in the middle -

Good Eyes John

I'll C2 it

Yes, it was cracked in other areas as well. Who knows how bad it was back in the day, this is now.

DansYellow66

Those outer half-shaft flanges have always looked like a weak link to me although bending during u-joint changes seems to be a bigger problem than breaks. I suspect someone makes a nice billet upgrade for someone with serious HP and tires.

67L88Vette

So it is likely recracking then, and I wouldn't use that part ... I'd also check to make sure the the trailing arm side of this flanges mating surface is flat, as it could be the part is cracking from being drawn down on a bent surface ... Something caused the part to fail in the first place, and now it looks like it's doing the same to the weld ... If not corrected, you may have the same failure again with another part ...
John A, 67L88Vette

Railroadman

Yup, that one has had the banana, but it sure does not owe you anything. 40++ years is nothing to complain about. And fortunate you discovered it this way instead or on the road!

Frankie the Fink

^^^^ this ^^^^

MikeM

Since it cracked again, I'd replace it. I'll stick with my theory that flange was bent/broken trying to get a Ujoint in/out. Then, it had to be flattened out close to get the ujoint in but not flat enough to stand the stress when the four bolts were tightened and it cracked immediately on installation. The ran for forty years.

The saving grace is the two mating flanges have a ridge where one runs inside the other and it can't spread open.

Jackfit

We had to get to work the next day or the next hour and these cars always broke...50 years ago...bad gas, plugged filters, stuck in gear, water pumps leaking , u joints going...but we still had to get to work...they were our daily drivers....and we were not great mechanics back then as we are now...

Jack

Railroadman

And I might add that we didn't have the Internet to look up the right way to do something, or to compare various options. Much of what I learned was either by trial and error, or by being told a way by someone who may or may not have known what he was talking about. Yes, I had a Chilton's manual, and the Thomas book about C-1's, but still nowhere near the wealth of knowledge and experience available today.